Is this my surprised face? Do I appear at all surprised? :|

The deadline for a candidate to withdraw from Maine's general election is the second Monday in July¹, six days from now. We have known that Democratic US Senate nominee Graham Platner was an unacceptable candidate since at least last October, though many in Maine and some prominent veterans spoke out before then. The day of the Maine primary, June 6th, I posted on Facebook:

I don't have any friends I know of in Maine, but if I had, I'd remind them that Janet Mills is still on the ballot for Tuesday's US Senate primary. She does not have any controversial tattoos, as far as I know, nor a Republican oppo file measured in metric tons.

So perhaps we can count ourselves fortunate that Politico is on our side, prompting them to publish the latest allegations against Platner yesterday instead of next week. Regardless of who the accuser is, who she works for, or who she supports politically, her allegations deserve serious consideration and his candidacy does not:

A woman who dated Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner says he forced her to have sex with him nearly five years ago despite her repeated objections, an allegation Platner denies.

The woman, a 41-year-old Maine resident named Jenny Racicot, detailed the alleged incident to POLITICO in three interviews over the past two weeks. POLITICO also spoke with a man Racicot dated and confided in the years after the alleged incident, and reviewed documents, including emails between Racicot and her therapist and messages between Racicot and an acquaintance whom she warned against getting involved with Platner years before he ran for office.

“These allegations are troubling, serious, and false. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue,” [Platner] said in a statement.

We all know that Fox News has other stories ready to broadcast on the 14th, right?

I'm having an online discussion with some people right now about how much we should overlook when the Senate is on the line. Well, I was kind of done with the Nazi tattoo, and I also remember our last "authentic" candidate with PTSD; how well has that gone?

It's up to Maine voters who they want representing them in the US Senate. I would prefer that someone other than Susan Collins represent them next January. How about the sitting governor of Maine, who has won statewide office twice and publicly stood up to the OAFPOTUS on more than one occasion?

Platner cannot win. Mills probably can't, but she has a better shot. Platner must go.